Kelly Mathis and Nelson Cuba released from jail after posting bail

Jacksonville attorney Kelly Mathis, identified by authorities as the man at the center of a alleged racketeering scheme to use a veterans charity as a front for an illegal gambling operation, right, makes his first court appearance Thursday, March 14, 2013 at the Seminole County Jail in Sanford, Fla.

Kelly Mathis and Nelson Cuba have both posted bail and been released from Seminole County jail.

They are among 57 defendants in the racketeering and money laundering investigation of Allied Veterans of the World, which runs dozens of gaming centers in Florida.

Mathis, 49, is a Jacksonville attorney accused of being the mastermind behind the $300 million racketeering and money laundering operation. His original bail of $1 million was reduced to $200,000, according to his attorney, Mitch Stone, who was waiting out the jail Friday afternoon for Mathis to be released.

Mathis had to turn in his passport and is not allowed to travel outside of Florida, Stone said, a restriction placed on all of the defendants.

Mathis was accused of having ties to “virtually every aspect” of what officials say is a massive gambling operation. But Stone said Mathis was acting as an attorney who gave advice to his clients.

The Florida Bar said Friday it had started an investigation into Mathis, which is standard when an attorney is accused of a crime. Mathis, who is a past president of the Jacksonville Bar Association, was admitted to practice law in Florida in 1988.

Cuba’s bail was dropped from $500,000 to $250,000, which he posted Friday afternoon, said his attorney Warren Lindsey.

Cuba, 48, is president of the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police. He was removed as president of the FOP Foundation.

“He intends to plead not guilty and to vigorously defend the charges,” Lindsey said.

Meanwhile, Johnny Duncan, the former national commander of the group, remains in South Carolina with no bail set. He is expected to be brought to Florida next week, said his attorney, Curtis Fallgatter, who also represents Duncan’s wife, son and son-in-law.

Bass is the national commander of Allied Veterans; Freitas is first vice president of the FOP

Interesting. In the print edition, there're two paragraphs between those beginning "Mathis, 49, is a Jacksonville attorney...." and "Mathis had to turn in his passport...." The two paragraphs missing from the on-line article read "Outside the jail, Mathis told reporters he was caught by surprise when he was arrested Tuesday. 'They tried to break me. They won't break me,' he said." That could cut two ways. One, the police tried to get me to admit to criminal acts that I didn't commit, and they couldn't and I won't. Two, the police tried to get me to admit to the criminal acts I committed, and they couldn't (and I won't until I have to plead guilty to get a deal with the prosecutor). Can't wait to see which interpretation turns out to be accurate.

Electronic gangs/organized crime in jax and fla own the streets Thanks FBI for exposing the top.dogs. Hopefully you are working the electronic/physical organized crime networks that have been stalking the people of this town/state for way too many years, in the absolute open while JSO stands around and scratches their heads, theres no way a organized crime network could work in the absolute open for countless years without law enforcements knowledge..if a person reports them and wants them off our backs and demands the truth be said to the public the tried and true Lie by law enforcement/others will be used against these people/victims and that is they will claim these networks dont exist, the victim is seeing and hearing things that dont exist or they will say they are working on it and nothing ever gets done. This is a serious situation and until these networks are exposed/punished they arent going to slow down. Something stinks for these networks to exist for too many years, in the complete open and no one admits they exist or shuts them down..these same networks conquered mexico and other countries and they own the streets here..

It truly is sad that it took the feds to come in and break up this racket and that NOTHING was done on the State level to end it. I think more than anything Cuba like so many others looked around and saw what was going on and just decided to join in on the game.

Well folks the game is ending (if only for a little while) and some of the big egos are now going to have to learn to live like normal people (if only for a little while). If all of these people were as smart as they like us to believe were then they could have found a million different ways to advance themselves, but obviously they weren't and this is the result.

The curtain has finally been pulled back and none of us like what we see.